I like potatoes on pizzas. Make that love them. Yukon gold, blue and sweet (only one variety on a pizza though).

When I was using my broiler in my oven to cook pizzas, I did not use potatoes for some reason (and I had 980°F heat with my broiler....I miss it!). Now that I have my (still in experimental phase) LBE, just cutting the potatoes paper thin does not do the trick. The oven does not have enough top heat to cook the potatoes enough.

I have to par cook the potato slices in a pan with olive oil and sea salt, turning them a few times until they brown up and lose a little of their firmness. Then the LBE will finish them off...turning the edges of the potatoes crisp in the oven. The natural sweetness in the potatoes really come through and the textural counterpoint of the crisped edges is really nice.

If one of you could use a mandolin to cut VERY thin slices of potatoes (or a knife...we're talking paper thin cuts), layed them on the skin so there was minimal overlap (but covered the surface), I'd be interested to see if the heat of a good WFO alone could finish such a thinly sliced potato off sufficiently during the course of the short baking time.

I've been tinkering with a parmigiano-reggiano (a lot, grated, added first), sweet potato, caramelized onion and rosemary pizza.....as well as a sweet potato, sage, blue cheese and Mike's Hot Honey pizza (I may swap out the Blue Cheese for Mascarpone) and have no idea if a WFO could do the trick without a par cook first. The ingredient combinations are still experimental, but you get the point.

Kelly: I just tried something similar last weekend in my WFO. I actually par-cooked a Yukon Gold potato but not until done, only until barely par-cooked, tender/crisp. Sliced thin but not paper-thin (~between 1/8th - 1/16th") and put as a topping (pepperoni-style) on a sauce-less kale + mushroom pie. Drizzled with oil, and into the WFO. The potatoes did not finish cooking in the ~80 second bake, and were still unpleasantly crisp, we pulled them off and did not eat them. I will still try paper-thin for you next time, probably next weekend, but I suspect that par-cooking first is necessary.

I have a couple of pies I do with potatoes and have always mandolined to 1/32" or so and par cooked in water in.... gasp.... the microwave. It has worked perfectly for me since first trying it. I would not recommend putting them on raw. They won't cook in time. I also would recommend rinsing a few times after slicing and before cooking as well as rinsing once more after cooking. Be sure to dry them off before trying to use. I actually drain them after the final rinse and just leave them covered in the same bowl I cooked them in.

It works perfectly on a mandolined potatoes in a WfORather than layer them directly on the dough, I drop some dollops of goat cheese on the dough, and some fresh rosemary. A splash of OO , some salt and good to go.The dollops lifts the layer of potatoes off the dough and they cook wonderfully.

For a potato pie, without dough, I use a round cast iron shallow skillet. Layer of OO on the bottom , 2or 3 layers of potato, with shreded asiago, some fresh rosemary or tyme and salt between the layers, and more OO drizzles on top. I usually do this after the pizzas are done, and the oven is cooling. About 5-7 minutes and out comes a beautiful round home fry.Slide it on to a pizza plate and cut into pie slices. The cast iron creates a crisp bottom , and you can pick up and eat the slices of potato pie like any crispy pizza. Perry

I have been regularly featuring a potato pie when I make pizzas, called That's Mister to You (in homage to Mr. Potato Head) that is influenced by Seattle's Serious Pie (http://tomdouglas.com/index.php?page=serious-pie-pizza).....pecorino romano, sea salt, yukon gold tomatoes, olive oil and rosemary. As mentioned at the beginning, I par cook the thinly sliced potatoes (in a cast iron skillet like pizzaboyfan) in olive oil and sea salt until they get a golden brown tint to them and then add them to the pizza before baking. Sometimes I add caramelized onions to this as well.

After eating some UTZ Crab Chips one day (http://www.utzsnacks.com/products/regchips.html), I started adding Old Bay Seasoning to the potatoes, both during par cooking and a dash over the entire pizza pre-bake, as well as a little fresh cracked black pepper, to the pizza and I at least like it.

Interested to see if the razor thin potatoes can be cooked in the high powered WFOs many of you have without pre-cooking. Muchas gracias! --K

Here you go. It was the last pie of the night, and the oven had cooled a little. I'm guess in 875F or so. It took a good 80 or so seconds. The pie is topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano, potato slices, more parm, rosemary, fresh ground black pepper, and EVOO. The potato slices were cut 0.045" You can't really see them in the picture, but they are there - one layer covering most of the surface. They were fully cooked. There was no resistance when bitten, and there was no raw potato taste. Actually, the potato taste was very subtle. I think you could go a little thicker even.

I made this one in honor of your vegetarian self. Next time it's getting rendered duck fat.

buceriasdon

As always Craig, beautiful pie. My present incarnation of the potato pizza uses just blended basil and olive oil for a pesto applied in teaspoon dollops as opposed to trying to spreading it. It will flow out. Sliced garlic cloves and pinon nut sprinkling over the potato. I don't roast the pinon as they will over brown. Very, very good. Don

This is a special we did a couple months back: Mortadella, Mozzarella, Basil, Sauteed Red Onion, Potato, Egg, Black Pepper, Sea Salt. Also, have done variations with Pancetta, or Spanish Chorizo instead of Mortadella.

We have used all sorts of potato on pizzas. Thin sliced, grated (really looks good) as well as cooked and mashed with butter and garlic. When using mashed potatoes I like to apply it in rosettes using a decorating bag and a large star tube, then apply by making little swirly (rosettes). Garnish with a little fine crumbled bacon and a little cheddar cheese in addition to your favorite pizza cheese. Makes for a really nice presentation.Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor